The 4th Korea Harp Festival opens with the music of virtuoso harpist Naoko Yoshino. The artist from Japan is an internationally acclaimed harpist who actively tours around the world, performing with many prestigious orchestras such as Berlin Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic, as well as being invited to the stages of various world harp festivals such as the Swiss’ Lucern Festival. Naoko Yoshino will perform not only the famous songs of Bach and Brahms, but she will also perform a colorful repertoire that includes the works of Gabriel Faure, Claude Debussy, and Paul Hindemith.

Naoko Yoshino’s distinguished solo career includes appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra among others, with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and Seiji Ozawa. She has also worked closely with such renowned musicians as violinist Gidon Kremer, flutists Aurèle Nicolet, Emmanuel Pahud, Jacques Zoon, and horn player Radek Baborák. Naoko Yoshino has premiered many works, including Toru Takemitsu’s “And then I knew ‘twas Wind” and Toshio Hosokawa’s Harp Concerto “Re-turning”. Recordings to date include releases from the Teldec, Philips, and Sony Classical labels, and in 2016, she started a new recording project with her own private label “grazioso”. Naoko Yoshino began to study harp at the age of six with Susann McDonald. She started her worldwide career in 1985, after winning first prize at the Ninth International Harp Contest in Israel.